Fracture
by Casteline
Summary: Because taking care of Derek's pack is what Stiles does best. Stisaac?


_I didn't mean for this to be Stiles/Isaac, but if you want to read it as pre-slash, go for it. I wrote it as a family-like relationship, but I realized that it might not really read that way to everyone._

* * *

**Fracture**

The pack is splintered. Derek is Alpha, but he isn't always a good leader, doesn't always make the right decisions. And Peter is hardly helpful; when he isn't intentionally leading them astray, he's laughing as they find themselves in increasingly bad situations Scott is still reluctant to help until it's directly in his favor; he's still too preoccupied with getting Allison to forgive herself, though, in truth, he hasn't fully forgiven her. Erica and Boyd are back, and they're pack too, because Derek can't really afford to lose them, but they haven't really been forgiven yet either. It's unclear whether Jackson is technically pack, because he's an asshat who begged to be a wolf, and when he _finally_ got it, he denied all association with them. Lydia is still trying to figure out her place, trying to figure out her place, trying to figure out everything she missed the past few months, trying to work how why she wasn't affected by Peter's bite, or Jackson's poison, and how exactly Peter gad used her to resurrect himself.

Stiles tries to keep them all together, though he knows he isn't really pack, he feels like it's his job. Because he can't fix his own family, and he can't fix himself, but he can try his hardest to make their pack a family, to fix all their problems. Even if they don't want his help, and they resist him at every turn, denying that he can help, denying they even _need_ help.

But the one person who is consistently willing to let him in, is the one Stiles thinks is kind of perfect. Isaac tries a lot harder than the other. He's surpassed all the young wolves in terms of control, and though he still locks himself up in the full moon, Stiles knew it had been a while since he'd lost control. Because he cares about being a wolf, he wanted and, and he cares, not just about the power, but about all of it. He volunteers at the hospital, secretly easing the pain of patients, because he can, because it's something he knows how to do, something he's good at, and maybe he feels like he has to, in the same way that Stiles has to help everyone else.

So Stiles thinks that Isaac is kind of okay. He's doing okay in school, and he's becoming a good wolf, and he seems pretty happy, so Stiles kind of stops worrying about him, lets him fall off his radar.

Until he wakes up in the middle of the night and heads downstairs to get a drink, and find Isaac asleep on the couch.

Stiles didn't know why he was there, but he moved quietly so as not to wake him. By the time he returned from the kitchen though, Isaac had gone from sleeping peacefully, to letting out a low whine as he dug his claws into a throw pillow.

Stiles moved closer, then knelt beside the sleeping wolf and reached out for him. He rested his hand softly in Isaac's hair, and for a moment, Isaac pulled away. Then he seemed to realize who it was and relaxed. Finally he opened his eyes.

"Hey," Stiles said.

"Hi. Oh. Um… Sorry?"

"It's okay," Stiles said. "You know you're always welcome here. But I have to ask: what _are_ you doing here?"

Isaac shook his head. "It's nothing. I just didn't feel like sleeping there."

"Isaac-"

"It's nothing."

"Is she hurting you?"

"I said it's nothing."

"Isaac. If she's hurting you, you have to tell someone." Stiles had never had good feelings about Isaac's aunt, the woman who'd moved back to Beacon Hills to take care of him. There was nothing particularly bad about her, but Stiles always got a bad vibe from her, and he was beginning to suspect why.

"It doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters," Stiles said, feeling anger rise in him. How dare she lay a hand on him?

"I heal. It doesn't matter."

"Maybe the cuts close up and the bruises are gone before they really start to show, but that doesn't mean she can hurt you. And you're here, sleeping on my cough to get away from her, you know what that tells me? That maybe the physical wounds heal just fine, but mentally, you still have a ways to go."

Isaac bit his lip slightly and pulled back from Stiles just slightly.

"Please don't," Stiles begged. "Please don't shut me out. How long has this been going on?"

"Not long."

"But long enough that I should have noticed by now. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. It's not like you have any reason to care about me."

"But I do. I just thought… I spent so much time thinking that you were the only one that didn't need my help."

"I always need you," Isaac whispered, burying his face in Stiles' shirt.

Stiles held him close for as long as Isaac needed, whispering back at him as he ran his fingers through his curls.

"I'll talk to my dad in the morning," he said. "He'll make sure she can't get near you."

"That's not… you don't have to make such a big deal. It's nothing." He said one thing, but Stiles heard the real meaning.

"You're not nothing. You don't deserve to be treated like this."

"Everyone else seems to think otherwise."

"They're wrong. You're a beautiful, amazing person, and anyone who says differently is just jealous."

Isaac let out a half laugh.

"Thanks," he said, after a while. "For… everything."


End file.
